1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a gastric band for treatment of morbid obesity and more particularly to a gastric band having a rough textured stomach-contacting surface.
2. Prior Art
A current method for treating morbid obesity comprises the placement of a band around a portion of the stomach, either laparoscopically or by open surgery, thereby compressing the stomach and creating a stoma that is less than the normal interior diameter of the stomach. The constricted stoma restricts food intake into the lower digestive portion of the stomach. An exemplary gastric banding device used in this method is disclosed by Kuzmak et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,339. In its simplest form the gastric band comprises a substantially nonextensible belt-like strap which constrictively encircles the outside of the stomach thereby producing a new stoma and preventing it from expanding. Kuzmak et al also describe a band which includes a balloon-like section that is expandable and deflatable by injection or removal of fluid from the balloon through a remote injection site. The balloon-like expandable section is used to adjust the size of the stoma both intraoperatively and postoperatively.
Although the banding procedure has great promise due to its simplicity and the fact that it retains the desired diameter of the stoma, it is necessary to establish a proper stoma size. To overcome this problem, Kuzmak in U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,288, describes a stoma size calibrating apparatus and method for using the apparatus with a gastric banding device. The calibrating apparatus facilitates controlling the size of the stoma with the gastric band.
In accordance with current practice, the prior art gastric band is operatively placed to encircle the stomach. Once positioned around the stomach, the ends of the gastric band are fastened to one another and the band is held securely in place by folding a portion of the gastric wall over the band and closing the folded tissue with sutures placed therethrough thereby preventing the band from slipping and the encircled stoma from expanding. Most prior art gastric bands that are currently used include a flexible substantially non-extensible band portion having an expandable, balloon-like straight or toroidal shell that is in fluid communication with a remote injection site. Injection or removal of an inflation fluid into or from the interior of the expandable shell is used to adjust the size of the stoma either during or following implantation.
A problem with prior art gastric bands is the aforesaid necessity for folding and suturing the stomach around the shell portion of the band to prevent it from slipping. The shell of prior art gastric bands has a smooth inner stomach-contacting surface which exerts pressure uniformly against the stomach tissue thereby reducing or preventing necrosis which can occur when tissue is pinched as, for example, by a dimpled inner surface on the expanded shell. It would be an advance in the art to provide a gastric banding device that resists slippage following implantation without requiring the placement of sutures in the stomach.
It is an object of this invention to provide a gastric band adapted for placement in an encircling position around the stomach thereby constricting the stomach and producing a stoma within the band-encircling portion of the stomach which may be adjusted by the percutaneous injection of an inflation fluid into the gastric band via an injection reservoir which is in fluid communication with the gastric band.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a gastric band meeting the above objective and wherein the gastric band is adapted to resist slipping following implantation without the use of sutures to hold the gastric band in position.
The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. However the invention itself, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof may be best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: